Chicken Gloria Casserole (5-Star Tried & True Recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What is the key to making a good casserole? ›

In general, you'll want to bake a casserole covered with aluminum foil for most of the cooking time. Covering the casserole helps lock in moisture and prevents it from drying out. If you don't cover the casserole or uncover it too soon, the casserole will dry out.

Make-ahead meals (especially baked casseroles) are terrific because you can completely assemble them in advance and bake them just before serving. They're the ultimate comfort food as they come bubbling hot and delicious straight from the oven to the table to the delight of family and friends.

Casseroles can really shine when they achieve a harmonious balance of flavors. Sweet, salty, spicy, and acidic elements should blend well and complement each other. Add ingredients like caramelized onions, olives, or lemon zest to give your casserole a depth of flavor.

So what's inside? Let's talk anatomy: A standard dinner casserole usually includes a protein, a starch, a vegetable, a sauce (or other binding ingredient), and cheese.

Casseroles are at their best when the ingredients are able to meld, which is why they often taste even better the second day.

The time a casserole takes to cook will vary from 2-2½ hours for chuck, blade and thick flank, up to 4 hours for shin, leg and neck. Pork cuts for braising and casseroling normally take 1½ hours, and lamb much the same.

Covering a casserole is especially important if you're making anything with uncooked ingredients that need a lot of moisture. A rice-based casserole like chicken broccoli and rice, for example, especially needs that steam trapped so that the rice has a chance to soak up all the liquid in the pan.

Using Fresh Vegetables: Fresh vegetables should be steamed or cooked until softened before adding them in. (Not too cooked through, but about 90% of the way.) Crispy Fried Onions make a great alternative topping option as well!

Can I leave a casserole in the oven all day? ›

If it was piping hot and you haven't opened the casserole, I would think you're fine. Anything that was in it will be dead from the cooking and if you haven't opened it no other organisms will have leapt in. Just reheat thoroughly.

The three main thickening agents for gravies are flour, cornflour and arrowroot. The first two are normally used in savoury dishes while arrowroot tends to be used in sweet dishes – that said, arrowroot will work in a savoury dish as it has no flavour.

Add fresh chilli and coriander to a simple casserole to spice it up. Always add hardy, fresh herbs such as bay leaves and rosemary at the beginning of cooking, and throw in lighter herbs, such as parsley and tarragon, at the end so they keep their flavour.

What goes wrong: If your casserole is full of raw vegetables, you can end up with a watery mess as they release their natural juices.

There are 3 main parts that make up a casserole: the starchy base, the filling, and the sauce. The base: The starchy base is the foundation of the casserole. It isn't going to be the most flavorful part of the dish, but it is what will make the casserole filling and satisfying.

Top tips for casseroles

Cut your ingredients, such as meat, potatoes and parsnips, into similar-sized pieces to ensure they cook evenly. Add any ingredients that cook quickly, such as broad beans, towards the end of cooking. To save time – and washing up – use a flameproof, ovenproof casserole dish.

In the United States, a casserole or hot dish is typically a baked food with three main components: pieces of meat (such as chicken or ground meat) or fish (such as tuna) or other protein (such as beans or tofu), various chopped or canned vegetables (such as green beans or peas), and a starchy binder (such as flour, ...